Wish
by SaffronandSaffy
Summary: A human girl named Stephanie is tired of her dull life. Then, one day she discovers a strange, black crystal that transports her to the world of Mobius. Can she adapt and survive in this new place - especially now that she is no longer human?
1. Chapter One: Guardian

**Chapter One: Guardian**

_Thud!_

Stephanie shot open her eyes and gazed at her white ceiling. A sharp pain ran up her spine and Stephanie winced. She looked to her left to see her thin bed beside her; she must have rolled off her bed once again.

"I _have_ to stop doing that," Stephanie muttered to herself as she massaged the pain out of her muscles. The sun was streaming through her opened window and lighting up her cramped bedroom. A light, birch desk took up most of one wall and a vanity occupied the other. The space in between the two lied piles of books, most of which were classics such as _Moby Dick_ by Herman Melville and _Dracula_ by Bram Stoker. Stephanie was an extreme bookworm and she was extremely proud of it.

She slowly and painfully stood up and peered out the window. White, sparkling snow covered every inch of the ground and houses that she could see, making the Earth around her look like a blank canvas waiting to be smeared with vibrant paint. With one last look, she drew her lavender curtains to hide herself from any peeping eyes and turned to the mirror beside her.

Staring back at her was a sluggish and grumpy-looking sixteen-year-old girl. Her dirty-blonde hair was ruffled and disorderly, her grey eyes looked glazed over and her pale skin shined with natural oils. She never looked the best when she first woke up, and frankly, she didn't care. There was never anyone to be disgusted by her appearance anyway. Her family was always out or busy and none of her friends were close enough to her to hang out for a day, never mind a night. Thankfully, there was a cure to this morning madness: a brush and a wash cloth.

Slowly and carefully, Stephanie crept silently from her room in case her parents were still around. She wouldn't want to draw any attention to her unsightly self. The unhealthily clean bathroom was only two doors away from her room and she snuck inside and closed the door.

The bathroom was almost too white and it hurt her eyes to look at the walls for too long. Stephanie opened the wooden cabinet beneath the sink, took out her grooming tools and got to work. Within a matter of minutes, she changed her appearance from sleepy and grungy to wide awake and decent. Her hair now fell silkily to her shoulders, her eyes gleam with attentiveness, and her skin was soft, smooth and dirt-free. She now looked reasonable, but that didn't change how she felt.

"Mom? Dad?" Stephanie stuck her head out of the bathroom. No one replied and loneliness came over her in a violent wave. She tried to push her nagging emotions away, but they remained firm in her chest. Stephanie had gone through this often enough that she knew what the only solution was: to go for a walk.

"Well, I am kind of hungry..." Stephanie felt her stomach clench angrily at her words.

* * *

Stephanie stepped out of the small convenience store that was close to her house, chocolate donut in hand. She had exchanged her pyjamas for a casual black hoodie, a nice-fitting blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans and a pair of black running shoes before she had left. The air was chilly, but not cold enough for heavy clothing.

_I wonder where Mom and Dad are..._ Stephanie thought to herself as she began her journey back home. She was quite used to being left alone (her parents started frequently taking off once she was old enough to look after herself), but it didn't make her feel any less empty. Because of only being in the company of herself for so long, Stephanie hadn't developed a need for human relationships, so her amount of friends were very few by choice.

_Smack!_

Stephanie fell over into a snow bank as something hit her hard in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of her.

"_Damn it_," Stephanie growled. She rubbed the growing bruise on her torso and felt a wet spot on her shirt. "Was I hit with a snowball?" She quickly looked in all directions to identify the offender, but all she saw was an empty street and her poor donut lying dropped on the sidewalk. Stephanie sighed irritably and lay back in the snow but then immediately sprung back up in pain.

"Ow!" she cried, whipping around to look at where she had laid down. There, wedged in the lustrous snow, was something black, shimmering and pointy. She impatiently dug it out and roughly picked it up. She stared down at the beautiful, black crystal that she now held.

"It's gorgeous." Stephanie dreamily sighed at its hypnotic beauty. Looking around once again, she hastily hid it under her hoodie so no one would try to claim it, even though there was no one around.

_Who could have dropped this?_ Stephanie continued to suspiciously eye her surroundings as she stood up. _Oh well. Finder's keepers, loser's weepers._ Trying to act as if she had not just found a very valuable crystal, Stephanie headed home with a slight spring in her step.

* * *

Stephanie opened the door to her small home.

"Hello?" she called out with little hope that her parents had returned. Silence followed her voice and the disappointed girl shut the door behind her. Warily, Stephanie ascended the curvy staircase to the next floor, still grasping the crystal. Stephanie walked into her bedroom, switched on her CD player and rock music filled the overbearing silence that Stephanie despised so very much. With a sigh, she plopped herself down on her slim bed and turned her attention to examining the stunning gem.

_Who would even carry this around?_ Stephanie rolled the stone in her fingers. It glittered as if it had been recently polished, and if her eyes weren't deceiving her, it seemed to give off a faint and eerie glow. _Strange_.

She stared at the crystal's glow and she could feel herself being pulled into a trance-like state, which was both frightening and calming. All of a sudden every emotion, worry and fear she had been suppressing for all of her life came crashing onto her. Her chest felt heavy, almost breathless, and infuriating tears formed in her eyes. Pictures of her alone in the overwhelming darkness seeped into her mind, blinding her vision from reality. She tried to blink the mocking images away, but they did not leave. Panic and sadness surged through every part of her and she felt a scream build in her throat.

"I wish I was where I belong," Stephanie heard herself say in a strained voice. The mysterious jewel in her hands began to glow brighter. It shone out bright beams of warm light that made Stephanie want to sleep. Her eyelids grew heavy and she felt herself slowly drift off into a deep slumber. There was an abrupt flash of light and Stephanie disappeared into thin air.

* * *

Stephanie lazily stretched out her limbs as she gradually woke up. Underneath her she felt a smooth, hard surface, almost like glass, but she thought nothing of it as she was still half-asleep. However, when she heard a loud and furious voice, her eyes shot open.

"What do you think you're doing, touching my emerald?"

Stephanie jumped up, startled, and accidentally slid off of whatever she was on. She tried to peer at whoever was yelling at her, but her vision was blurry; her eyes were still not adjusted to the light. Beside her was a very large, green blob and a red figure stood before her.

_What the hell? This isn't my bedroom!_ Stephanie's pulse quickened and a sickening feeling swam up in her gut. Her vision came into focus after a moment of rapid blinking and standing in front of her, staring angrily, was a red echidna with his arms crossed in impatience. Stephanie looked around in alarm. She was at what looked like an ancient alter, and the green object beside her was a huge emerald.

"Oh my goodness! Who are you?" Stephanie covered her mouth with her hand and looked back to the echidna.

"Shouldn't _I_ be the one asking that, pink hedgehog?" the echidna asked with a rising temper.

"Pink hedgehog?" Stephanie gazed up at him, confused beyond belief.

He arched a brow and stared at her like she was completely off her rocker. Stephanie turned her gaze from the echidna to her own hands. Her eyes widened. They were covered in pink fur! She looked at her arms; they were also covered with unnatural pink fur. She averted her eyes to her body. Stephanie was wearing this morning's clothes, but they were a bit baggier; her body must have grown smaller. Strangely though, her breasts remained the same size. She felt her face; her hand drifted over a small muzzle and a little, black nose. Her other hand ran through her hair – which was now pink quills.

_Wait. If I'm a hedgehog, that means I have a..._ She gazed back up at the red echidna as she ran her hand cautiously down her back until she felt something sticking out of the back of her jeans – a tail. Stephanie's eyes grew wider and her pupils dilated. The echidna watched her curiously. Weakly, Stephanie somehow managed to stand with her legs shaking terribly.

"I must be dreaming," Stephanie whispered to herself. She measured herself to the echidna; she came just below his forehead.

"I'm still waiting for an answer." His expression was deadly serious.

"Oh, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to wake up on your – uh – emerald thing," Stephanie replied nervously. "I was just... there."

"How were you 'just there'?" he asked, not trying to keep the disbelief out of his tone. Stephanie paused, unable to answer his question.

"I'm not trouble or anything." Stephanie bowed her head shyly. He carefully eyed her, then walked to the stairs of the altar and sat down.

"You're right; what can a pink hedgehog do?" The red echidna grunted and rubbed his forehead warily. Stephanie took a moment to calm her nerves before sitting next to him.

_Is this a dream?_ Stephanie thought as she peered up at the blue sky. Something sharp nudged at her hip from inside her pocket. Absent-mindedly, she took the object out and stared at it. It took a moment before she realized she was staring at the black crystal that she had found.

The echidna noticed what Stephanie held in front of her and after taking a closer look at it, he couldn't help but let his mouth drop open.

"Is that... a Chaos Emerald?"

"A what?" Stephanie asked, not taking her eyes of the beautiful, dark gem.

"May I see it?" The echidna held out his hand. Stephanie hesitated, but eventually nodded and dropped it into his large, gloved hand.

"Where did you get this?" he asked as he began to examine the crystal.

"I found it in some snow," Stephanie admitted quietly.

"How could you find it in snow? It's summer on Mobius." He narrowed his eyes apprehensively at her.

"Mobius?"

"Yeah, Mobius. You know, the planet you're on," the echidna scoffed.

"Oh, I'm not from here." Stephanie looked down the stone steps.

"Then where are you from?"

"Earth."

"Earth?" he repeated.

"Yeah, I'm – well, _was_ – human. I don't really know _how_ I got here or how I turned into a hedgehog." Stephanie racked her brain for some hint or clue as to how she ended up on such a strange planet. She severely doubted this was all a dream; it felt too real.

"What was the last thing you did?" The echidna rubbed the crystal thoughtfully.

Stephanie bit her lips as she tried to remember, but it did not take her long to recall what she had done.

"It's quite embarrassing." Stephanie blushed slightly.

"That's all right. I don't care," he replied while looking intensely at the stone.

"I... I wished I was where I belong," Stephanie spoke in a hushed voice. The red echidna raised his thick brow, but lowered it when he noticed Stephanie's cheerless expression. He did not say anything.

"I'm Stephanie, by the way." She turned to him and forced a friendly smile.

"I'm Knuckles." He faintly returned the smile.

"Knuckles?" This time it was Stephanie's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" he asked, a little threat slipping into his tone.

"Not at all." Stephanie backed off. _I guess he's more sensitive than he looks._

"Anyways," Knuckles swiftly stood up, "we'd better show this to Tails."

Stephanie was tempted to ask who "Tails" was, but she kept her mouth shut and nodded in agreement. Knuckles grew silent and marched down the stone steps, away from the huge emerald.

"Uh, Knuckles? What is that big emerald thing?" Stephanie asked curiously as she followed after him.

"It's called the Master Emerald and I am its guardian," Knuckles answered briefly. She sensed it was a topic he preferred not to talk about deeply, so she asked no more about the fascinating gem.

They were heading towards a dense jungle and Stephanie didn't know whether to feel frightened or excited.

"Stick close to me or you'll get lost," Knuckles spoke over his shoulder.

Now, Stephanie was definitely frightened.


	2. Chapter Two: Chaos Emerald?

**Chapter Two: Chaos Emerald?**

The jungle air was warm and moist against Stephanie's skin and it felt oddly refreshing. It was a nice change from the cold winter back on Earth.

"So, where exactly is this 'Tails'?" Stephanie asked as she stepped over a rotting, fallen log.

"I wish I could say not far from here, but I'd be lying," Knuckles answered her. As they walked, Knuckles easily cut any vines in their way with menacing spikes that poked out from his gloves. Stephanie sighed. They had only been travelling for half an hour, but Stephanie was already growing tired and hungry. She was not ready to complain, though. Knuckles was too intimidating to annoy with complaints.

Stephanie bumped into something in front of her and when she took a step back, she realized that Knuckles had stopped walking suddenly.

"What are you –"

"Sshh." He put a finger to his lips and then pointed upwards. Stephanie looked to where he was pointing and stood as silent as she could. She could hear something rustling in the trees above them.

"Show yourself!" Knuckles dauntingly demanded. A few terrifying moments passed before the rustling disappeared. They waited a bit longer to make sure it was safe to continue on.

"What do you think it was?" Stephanie sped up her pace so she was walking beside the red echidna rather than behind him.

"I don't know. There are many things that live on this island," Knuckles answered her. Stephanie examined his expression to see if he was in the least bit perturbed about the mysterious rustling of the jungle canopy, but she saw no alarm on his face. Content with that, she relaxed a bit more.

Stephanie was starting to become more and more impatient, but after another half an hour passed they came into a clearing and were met by a sandy coast; it was the edge of the island.

Stephanie looked down and saw a vast ocean at least a hundred feet below them. Was the island they were on floating? Stephanie was overthrown by uneasiness and images of her falling filled her mind. She speedily took a step back.

"There's only one way to get across this ocean, and that's by gliding, but seeing that you can't..." Knuckles looked contemplative for a moment and then he let out a finalized sigh. "I'll have to carry you."

"You have to what?" Stephanie's emotions peaked. It wasn't that Stephanie didn't trust him enough; he had earned that by keeping her safe in the jungle. But she was very unnerved by the fact that he had to touch her.

"It's the only way we can get to Tails," Knuckles replied. "Don't worry. I won't drop you."

Stephanie was about to argue that that was not what she was afraid of, but she decided against it. She would just have to suck it up.

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Stephanie took a deep breath to calm her pounding pulse. Knuckles walked closer to Stephanie and turned Stephanie's shoulders so that she faced away from him. Stephanie looked down and watched as the echidna wrapped his strong arms around Stephanie's waist. Stephanie felt herself blush madly and she was glad that Knuckles could not see her face.

Fright surged through her as they lifted off of the ground. Looking around, Stephanie could see the island fall back behind them and the serene ocean spread out beneath them. She tried to spot any animals that might be swimming underneath the ocean surface, but the ocean was too much like a mirror and she could only see their reflection.

An hour passed by as if it were merely seconds. Stephanie turned her attention to Knuckles. He looked tired and she saw that they were losing some altitude.

"Almost there," Knuckles called out reassuringly. Stephanie could barely hear him with ocean breeze rushing by her ears, but she guessed what he had said once she noticed land off in the distance.

"I think I have a red line around my stomach," Stephanie joked lightly. The place where Knuckles was holding her had grown tender and sore.

"Would you rather be dropped in the ocean?" Knuckles asked. He sounded somewhat serious.

"No," Stephanie answered quickly. She turned her eyes to gape at the ocean, but a view of grassy land was underneath her instead.

"Hold on. This is going to be a rough landing," he told her. Panic flooded Stephanie in a heartbeat.

"There's Tails' workshop." Knuckles pointed forwards. "We can land on the Tornado's runway."

In front of them was an odd, little structure on top of a steep hill. A paved runway led away from the small building and out over the ocean. Stephanie suspected landing would be much more difficult than taking off.

"Get ready. I'm going to drop you here." Knuckles glided about three feet above the ground.

"Okay. That doesn't sound too bad," Stephanie lied. She knew it was going to be a painful. Knuckles carefully let go of her and Stephanie luckily landed on her feet. Her teeth clenched tightly as pain spread through her feet. Knuckles landed softly a few feet away from her.

"You all right?" Knuckles asked, sounding only half-concerned with her well-being.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Stephanie forced a smile, pushing away any emotions or thoughts that would make her appear weak in his eyes.

She turned to observe the workshop before following Knuckles up creaky, wooden stairs. Odd wind contraptions were strewn on the roof and a water pump was busily working away. Knuckles knocked hard on the wooden door with his big hands. Stephanie nervously fiddled with the crystal in her pocket. She was never good with meeting people. The door opened and a young two-tailed fox appeared before them.

"Hey, Knuckles!" the young fox squealed happily.

Knuckles stepped aside to give the orange fox a good look at Stephanie.

"Hello," Stephanie said, holding her arm bashfully.

"Hi." He suddenly looked very confused. "Who are you?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to answer, but Knuckles spoke for her.

"Her name's Stephanie. She's from Earth and she has no clue how she got here." Knuckles reached a hand into Stephanie's pocket and extracted the black jewel. "But I do. I believe she used this."

"Is that a... _chaos emerald_?" The fox's eyes widened in incredulity.

"I don't know for sure. We came here hoping to do some tests on it to see if it is." Knuckles held it carefully in front of him. "Think you can do it, Tails?"

"Sure I can!" Tails replied, slightly insulted that Knuckles would question his technology's abilities. Stephanie blinked. This was Tails? The person who was supposed to help them? He sounded barely over eight years old.

Tails opened the door wider and disappeared inside. The two of them entered in after him.

Surprisingly, the interior was not childish at all despite Tails being so young. The room they stood in had a casual sitting area with comfortable-looking furniture placed aesthetically. However, the opposite side of the room was not as appealing. Monitors, computers and random wires were laid out in clusters everywhere.

"Here." Knuckles placed the black crystal in Tails' hand.

"Thanks." Tails took it with a curious smile. His blue eyes sparkled as they scanned over the alluring gem. He strolled over to a large desk covered in monitors and attached wired suction cups to every inch of the crystal. Tails flipped a small, white switch on one of the monitors and it came to life with a small buzz.

"What does that do?" Stephanie asked the tiny fox.

"This machine detects any energy contained in a certain object. If this jewel shows high energy readings then it is very likely that this is a chaos emerald," Tails spoke excitedly. Stephanie smiled warmly at the fox. Even though he was intelligent, he couldn't help but act like a child.

The door to the workshop swung open.

"Hey, Tails!" a blue hedgehog called out to the fox, but he immediately stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Stephanie. Stephanie didn't take notice; she was staring intensely at the monitor screen. It was indeed showing high energy readings. She may not have been an expert in technology, but she knew what the jagged line peaking steeply meant.

"Who's the chick?"

"Hi, Sonic. This is Stephanie," Tails said delightedly. He looked even more excited to see Sonic than the crystal. Stephanie was strangely engrossed with the monitor, but she pulled herself away and courteously turned to see who she was being introduced to.

"Hello," Stephanie greeted politely.

"Hey there. I'm Sonic." He gave her a cocky smile,

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She answered his smile with one of her own gentle ones. He was quite different from Knuckles and Tails. He wore gloves and shoes, just like the other two, but he had a different air about him, as if he did not have a care in the world.

"What are you guys doing?" Sonic asked Knuckles.

"Tails is testing Stephanie's jewel to see if it's a chaos emerald." Knuckles crossed his arms in seriousness. Sonic walked over to the desk to get a glance at the crystal.

"It's black," Sonic pointed out.

"Is that bad?" Stephanie asked naively.

"Nope. It's just that they're usually bright colours," Sonic explained.

"Yeah, that is weird," Tails said thoughtfully as he unwired the black crystal and handed it back to Stephanie. "The monitor does show that this jewel possesses strong energy, but there's one more thing to do to make sure it _is_ a chaos emerald: use chaos control."

"Good idea, Tails." Sonic patted his buddy on the back affectionately and then headed to the door. "Let's do it outside."

Once out in the open, they all looked to each other.

"Who's going to test it?" Knuckles asked enquiringly.

"Well, seeing as how it belongs to Stephanie, she should." Tails looked at Stephanie with kind eyes.

"What? Me?" Stephanie pointed to herself, bewildered. "I don't even know what _Chaos Control_ is!"

"No one really understands it. You could call it... a way of transportation," Sonic tried to explain sufficiently, but he noticed Stephanie's scared face. "Don't worry. All you have to do is concentrate on a place you want to go and say, 'Chaos Control.' It's a piece of cake."

"O-okay." Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut and held out the hand that held the black crystal. What if she wasn't able to do it? Would they think she was an idiot? Her mind was scattered with anxiety, but she forced it to concentrate on the spot behind Sonic.

"C-chaos Control," Stephanie muttered under her breath. She opened one grey eye and saw everyone staring at her. She hadn't moved an inch. Stephanie closed her eye, nervously shifted her weight between her legs and tried once more.

"Chaos Control," Stephanie said louder, trying to sound more confident than she felt. There was a blinding flash of light and Stephanie was gone.

Tails gasped.

"Where'd she go?" Sonic asked eagerly.

"I'm right here." Stephanie's shaky voice came from behind his ear. Sonic shivered and whipped around to face Stephanie. She looked a little wobbly, but overall amazed.

"It is a chaos emerald!" Tails exclaimed, his tails waving wildly behind him.

"What's even more interesting is that Stephanie can use chaos control," mentioned Knuckles.

"Why is that?" Stephanie's anxiety had been replaced with calm thrill. Had the Chaos Control done that?

"We've found that only a few people can actually use the power of the chaos emeralds."

"Jealous, Knux?" Sonic asked playfully.

Knuckles scowled at him.

"No. Why would I be? I have the Master Emerald," Knuckles replied in words. His head lifted up in pride.

Sonic shook his head in what looked like slight disgust and he did not answer back.

"Let's go back inside. It's getting pretty dark," Tails suggested. Stephanie had not noticed it was growing late because of her latest excitement, but when she looked at the sky she could see stars starting to poke out from behind the wispy clouds. Stephanie nodded in agreement and followed all three boys inside.

"I'll make some tea." Tails smiled widely and left the room through another door.

"Thank you!" Stephanie called after him. Tails seemed to have his mature moments as often as his immature ones. "How old is Tails?"

Knuckles and Sonic looked at each other, as if they were silently agreeing on the right age.

"Nine, I think," Sonic answered her. "Why?"

"Well, he's living on his own, right? I was just curious."

"I always drop by, so I practically live here too." Sonic shrugged.

"Right." Stephanie sat down on one of the cushy chairs. "And how old are you two, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm sixteen, and Knux here is seventeen," Sonic answered her again, his thumb jutting out at Knuckles. Stephanie looked at the blue hedgehog and red echidna in front of her. They were around her age, yet she could not really tell. Their voices sounded matured and deep and Stephanie didn't have an idea of what an adult Mobian was like to reference to. Maybe Mobians aged differently from humans.

"How about you?" Knuckles asked her with a raised eyebrow. The two boys made themselves comfortable on Tails' furniture.

"I'm sixteen as well," Stephanie replied.

"Thought so. You look older than Amy," Sonic told her.

"Who's Amy?"

"She's Sonic's girlfriend." Knuckles chuckled.

"She is not!" Sonic barked at him, and then turned to Stephanie. "She's a pink hedgehog too, but she's thirteen and has lighter fur and shorter spines than you. And she can be really annoying."

"I think everyone can be really annoying sometimes," Stephanie admitted. She did not know this Amy, but for some reason she felt a compulsion to defend her.

"I guess so." Sonic purposely turned his attention to Tails as he walked in carrying a tray of full tea cups.

"What are ya guys talking about?" Tails asked, his childish smile still on his face.

"Nothing really," Sonic said as he took a cup of tea from his fox friend.

"So, Stephanie, why don't you tell us about what happened before you came here?" Knuckles changed the topic. He put up a spiked hand to pass on Tails' offer of tea.

"Um, okay." Stephanie carefully sipped from her cup as she tried to think of what to tell them. She wanted to keep out as much details about her boring life as possible. It would not really matter, would it? They only needed to know what was necessary.

"Uh, well, I was alone in my house – my parents had gone out – so I went out to get something to eat. On my way back I found the..."

"Chaos emerald," Knuckles said.

"Chaos emerald in a snow bank –"

"Snow bank? But it's summer on Mobius," Sonic spoke, puzzlement working its way into his green eyes.

"She's apparently from Earth," Knuckles told him. Sonic blinked a few times before Stephanie continued.

"I couldn't just leave it there so I took it home." Stephanie wanted to finish the story there, but something in the way that Knuckles stared at her made her press on. "When I got home I felt really lonely and sad, like everything I had been suppressing for so long just threw itself at me... and I wished that I was somewhere where I could truly be loved for who I am."

Stephanie did not look at them; she kept her eyes on her teacup. She felt like a fool, a pathetic and weak fool.

"That makes sense," Tails' voice broke the air.

Stephanie looked at him.

"It does?"

"Yep. Every chaos emerald has both negative and positive energy stored within it. The negative energy must have had an influence on you at that moment. That usually happens when one's in an emotional state." Tails spoke like it was plain fact, like Stephanie wasn't feeble or foolish, that it could have happened to anyone and everyone. This made her feel a bit better, but she knew somehow that she had to become stronger so the emerald's power could never possess her again.

"What's the story behind these chaos emeralds?" Stephanie asked the room as she looked at her own shiny, black one.

"That is hard to explain..." Tails looked to Sonic, who looked to Knuckles.

"The chaos emeralds go way back before our time. It's a long story." Knuckles spoke with such a grave voice that it slightly frightened her. "I'll bring you back to the Master Emerald tomorrow and I'll explain from there."

Stephanie refrained from saying anything; she only nodded.

"You should get some rest. You look tired," Tails said as he took Stephanie's cup from her. "There's a spare room that you can sleep in."

"Thank you." Stephanie did not want to sleep, not now that she was enjoying the Mobians' company so much, but she smiled at the boy and followed him as he led the way out of the room. "Goodnight, boys."

"Night!" Sonic called out and they waved as she disappeared behind another door.


End file.
